The Townhouse

I’ve been busy the past ten days with a townhouse update project. I’ll be busy for another ten days at least. It starts with a walk through. Needs paint, new floors, baseboards and trim. And while we are at it, doors. Then, should we put in a new electrical panel? Replace the baseboards with a new furnace and A/C?

Get some quotes.

Get to work.

I’m at the painting phase now – painting is easy if you know you are getting new floors.

The plan is to have it on the market on March 1.

Here are the highlights of the January KWAR statistics

Sales down

There were 270 residential sales in January — a decrease of 18% compared to January 2017. Listing inventory is still at historic low levels, and we continue to see multiple offers on properties putting upward pressure on prices. Total residential sales in January included:

149 detached (down 23.6%)

70 condominium units (down 11.4%).

27 semi-detached homes (down 18.2%)

22 freehold townhouses (up 10%).

Prices up

The average sale price of all residential properties sold in January increased 9% to $458,750 compared to January 2017.

Detached homes sold for an average price of $554,857 an increase of 10.7% compared to January of last year.

The average sale price for an apartment style condominium was $246,821 for an increase of 4%.

Townhomes and semis sold for an average of $371,095 (up 14.5%) and $388,974 (up 9.7%) respectively.

The median price of all residential properties sold last month increased 6.8% to $431,143

The median price of a detached home during the same period increased 4.2% to $495,000.

The average days it took to sell a home in January was 32 days, compared to 23 days in January 2017.

Legal marijuana shops could boost nearby property values

While Ontario landlords are looking to ban marijuana use in their rental units and several municipalities don’t want legal cannabis stores in their neighbourhoods, a recent U.S.-based study suggested that recreational pot could lift property values. Property prices for homes in Denver near shops which converted from medical marijuana to recreational pot in 2014 saw values increase by 8.4%, compared to those slightly further away.

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7 Things that will wreck your roof

Unless a problem arrises, we usually don’t give our roof a second thought. It is however one of the most important components of your home. It is the cover, the lid, the overall protector of you home from the winter weather, the wet spring weather, the windy autumn and the heat of the summer sun. Here are some things to think about when you think about your roof.

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A Costco experience

I had the weirdest experience recently. My wife and I went to a dinner party and all of the food was just like home. The chips, the dip, the crackers, the meat, the veggies…everything. Everything was from Costco, just like home.

We are a Costco family too. Now that the new Costco opened in Waterloo, it is so close that one of us is there at least one a week. I might stop over to get some gas and then go in for a few things — it is nice and quiet on a Monday afternoon, or a Wednesday morning (though I still run into someone I know, more times than not).

It is a clunky way to get groceries. Everything is oversized. You really have to commit before you buy that giant jar of olives or package of ground beef, or party-sized bag of potato chips. You have to know that this is an important purchase, you are going to have this product in your home for a long time.

But I don’t care.

I toss it in the cart.

I know that my family can get through anything, (especially a large box of croissants, or 100 bags of Earl Grey Tea). Shopping at Costco for me is the one time that I’m not a minimalist — it’s the one time that I am a maximalist. I’m on safari, an expedition, I’m stocking up, maybe so I don’t have to go outside again until spring.